


Headhunter

by Liadt



Category: Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 16:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8807932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liadt/pseuds/Liadt
Summary: After the memorial, Barbara goes up to Quatermass to ask for his help.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tish/gifts).



Barbara went up to the bar to order a round. Her actions weren't entirely generous; she'd spotted Professor Quatermass at the bar and wanted to talk to him. 

“Professor!”

Quatermass looked over at her. “Hello, Miss Judd.” He gave her a quick smile in greeting. “It was a fine memorial.”

“Yes, there was a good turn out and the eulogises were quite affecting.”

“Including your own heartfelt reading.”

“Roney and I were colleagues for years, and aren’t friends allowed to mourn too?”

Quatermass nodded in agreement and changed the subject. “I’ve heard on the grapevine you're head of department now.”

“The first woman, although there’s less interest in our offbeat branch of paleontology.”

“Considering the events at Hobbs Lane, it’s understandable.” 

“But we were good for the building trade. They often complain we prevent them from getting on with their work.”

“Yes, we left a lot of work for them,” said Quatermass, with a chuckle. “I will be glad to escape from the city and get back to the research institute. I’ve been trying to get funding for the British Experimental Group's plans for a rocket to ferry supplies to Moon. It would be signed and sealed by now if I promised faithfully to explore it's weapons potential.”

“And you’re only interested up to the explore point?”

“Correct. It’s been just over two decades since Hiroshima and there's still the drive to find more ways to kill.”

“I’m having that sort of problem too.”

Quatermass furrowed his brow. “I wouldn’t have thought that would be a problem in your field. Your subjects have been dead for thousands of years at least.”

“Not quite. One transformed ape may be left in the wild. A couple who were visiting Somerset filmed footage of an ape man in the caves. If you want a break from the city and a trip to Wookey Hole, I'd be grateful for your help.”

“It’ll be a man in a gorilla suit.” Quatermass wasn’t impressed; he'd seen fakes in the newspapers.

“It was lively enough when I saw it. It's a bigger version of the large brained hominid we excavated. The army has been called in and tracked it down to one section of the caves. They want to kill it. I think it would be more interesting to catch the ape man alive, but, after Hobbs Lane, Colonel Breen's successor doesn't want to take any chances with creatures from Earth's past. You have the knack for dealing with these military types as well as being drawn into fantastical adventures,” said Barbara. 

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“What about the encounters you had before you met Roney and I?”

“I wish I hadn't told you about those. I can't deny I'm not interested in finishing what we started uncovering about our past, down in the Underground.” Quatemass stroked his beard. “And as I said, I'm at a loose end.”

Barbara gave him a grateful smile. 

“Barbara, have you got the drinks in yet?” asked a man, in his thirties, who had come up to the bar. 

“Alan, you remember Professor Quatermass, don’t you?”

“How could I forget? I worked with Roney on the brain scans,” said Alan. “Poor Roney, he really was on to something. Shame we don’t have him with us down in Somerset. No disrespect to you, Barbara.”

“Would the Professor’s help be of any use?” said Barbara.

“I should say so!”

“I guess I’ll have to come now,” said Quatermass.

“Indeed,” said Barbara.

Then, with drinks in hand, the three of them went over to join the rest of Barbara’s team to talk of the past and the future.


End file.
